Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

Riding High

Pre-season victories setting the stage for Cubs regular season opener

Sep 16, 2019 | 6:18 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It may not be a Game 7 overtime victory, but the Medicine Hat Cubs exacted at least a little revenge over the weekend against the Coaldale Copperheads.

The Cubs swept their two-game pre-season series against Coaldale on Sunday, scoring five times in the second period to earn a 5-1 victory over their Highway 3 rivals.

“It’s a great feeling being able to beat them twice in pre-season,” said captain Tavin Stadnicki. “They knocked us out last year in playoffs, so it’s nice to kind of send a message early in the season.”

After a scoreless opening frame, Medicine Hat was able to take a 1-0 just over four minutes into the second with a goal from Devin Bielecki.

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That was followed up by a goal from rookie defender Carson Dingwall, his second of the post-season.

Something that impressed Cubs co-head coach J.D. Gaetan.

“We watched those guys at the Midget AA level last year and we know what they could bring,” said Gaetan. “We knew it would transfer over to this level, thought maybe it would take more of an adjustment period but they’re fitting in good.”

Captaining the Cubs for the first time over the weekend, defenceman Tavin Stadnicki added it was easy to see the rookies making their mark.

“Those young kids are doing a good job stepping into this league how they are,” said Stadnicki. “It’s a big jump from playing minor hockey to come into this league. So, I think they’ve done a great job so far.”

Mason Fischer, Chandler Aleman, and Levi Schlosser added Medicine Hat’s three other goals while Brett Vanderveer and Dawson Savage split the game between the pipes.

In all, Medicine Hat’s 10 goals over the weekend came from eight different goal scorers, scoring depth that the team hasn’t seen in years.

“It’s nice to see that we have some depth,” said Gaetan. “We have no problem throwing any of the one through four lines out there and we expect them to score. We know they can score and it’s nice to see early.”

With the pre-season behind them, the Cubs now get ready to kick off their 2019-20 regular season in just a matter of days.

Their first game won’t come easy however, as Medicine Hat heads to Airdrie to face the 2018-19 provincial champion Thunder on Friday night.

And while they may have been exhibition games, this past weekend’s results are giving the Cubs players a shot in the arm ahead of the season.

“I think it’s a big confidence booster,” said Stadnicki. “We kick off our season against Airdrie, they obviously had a very successful season last year. But, I don’t think that bugs us one bit.”

Along with taking to the ice against Alberta’s best junior ‘B’ franchise last year, the Cubs will be on hand as the Thunder raise their Heritage Junior Hockey League banner to the rafters at Ron Ebbesen Arena.

“We’ll be watching the banner raised in their barn which will be nice for the guys to see,” said Gaetan. “I think it will be a little extra motivation for the guys.”

Kicking off the season with a pair of road games, the Cubs will return to a renovated Kinplex on September 29 against the Lomond Lakers for their home opener.